Working valve for oil wells



n.1. STEINBERGER. WORKING VALVE FOR 0|'L WELLS.y

APPLIQATION FILED MAR- 18. 1922. I

PatntedSept. 5, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

atroz-'m11 H. J. STEINBERGER. rw NG vALvE Foa on WELLS. CATION FILEMAIL18, |922. 1427978 y n Patented Sept. 5, 1922. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

UNITED VsrAires PATENT omer.

HARM t sremeeem orv exmroox, oKLAHoMA- WORKPNG .EUR 'OIL 'WELLSyApplication*mee mmh 1s, 1922; serial N'o. 544,702.

, To) all whom rmayvco'ncem: i

of Oklahoma, have invented new and useful Improvements in WorkingValvesl'or Oil Wells, ot. which thef following!A is: a specilication.

In the drilling ot oilwells at the present time the outer wallofV thechamber of` the,

working valvefis equipped with laj series of packing-elements thatSurround the chamber ooneentrleellv thereof in juxtaposition one to theother. Thesey packingeleme-nts. en-4 gage the innerl wall-'ofv theworking valve( and aroused to form a fluid tight.jointfbe tween thevalve. and-,barrfel, so that` in the operation of the valve the oilwill'` be forcedy through the valve to, the surface.t n @wing tothesandy condition-of thesoil from which the oil is; obtained the oilcarries av certain amount of the sand with it, and thisfloat ing@ sand?worlrsinihetween the :valve and the barreh thereby coating theL packingelements and rendering them leaky, thug destroying the val-ue ofthepackging and reducing the eliieiency` of the working valve. n-Myinvention is designed to overcome this obieotoneble featureheretofore present in the operation of theV working valve f and isdesigned to prevent kor minimize the lpas-k sage of the sand into the.Space, betweenthe working valve andi the barrel, Vthereby p1o longingthe life of thef packing; and. enabling the Working velvefto operateetfoentlv end effectively in the operation of. they Well..

Another purpose oi my. invention is the provision. of eilxlery peekingmeans `for' the working valve vhioh oooreretes with the usual packingelementsto form, afluid'tight joint between the valve and the barrel, xand wherein my miojlsovedA peeking means may be .readily removed andvrepleoed whenever necessary i f i g It .is also my purpose to: provideim.- proveipeokna means' for 'the working valve which. will embrace;the, o desired ,features of s'mplotvL eiflftelvzvl` end durability" andwhichr will, achat all times .to 15011111 en, lef-I4 feotve fluid( tightjoint between .the valve and the barrel,y thereby enabling theworkie'svelveto' operate fuite highest, eoeney H1 the operation off the Well!` a.With the ebovetreoted ,objects in View, .endjotheis of alike nature, myinvention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement ofparts set forthy in and fall` ingwithin the scopey of the appendedclaim.`

In the accompanying drawings kt y 4 Figure l is a side elevation ofy heworkf-` ing valve constructed inf-accordance with my invention. e

Figure 2'is" an enlargedlfragmentary verticalsectiona'l yview throughthe upper end of the workingvalve. f l

v Figure 3ds-a similar 'view through the centralportion of theworkingvalve. i

Figure l is a like View through v'the lower end 'of the'working'valver-1 y Figure 5 is an enlarge l verticalr sectional View through theworking barrel, showing the portion vof the working valve thereinequipped with my invention. f i

Referring nowf'tothe drawings in detail, andy particularly to Figurev 5,A 'designates aportion of the working barrel, the upper 'end of which iskconnected with the lower end of the well casing-1 l(not shownyand thebottom-end 4oi which is equipped with the usual standing valve (notshown), as is well loirlovvn.y l i e,

Working within thebarrel A is vmy improved working valve Show-n as anentiretyv in Figure l ofthe drawings. In accordance with my inventionthis valve is` composed of aimain; for central tubular section l and topand bottom end sections-2I and 3 respec; tively. Adjacent to itsupperend the main or central sectionl is circumferentially reduced asiat andis formed with an exterior` ly threaded nipple 5, contiguousto thereduced portion 4e. This nipple 5 is threaded into an enlarged bore 6form-ed in the lower end of the top section; 2 contiguoustov the bore ofsuch section. At its lower: end the main or central section 1 isexteriorly threaded to engagein'a relatively large bore 7 formed inthe`upper end ofthe bottom sec-tion 3.k 4'lfhesfefsections 1, =2 land 3 whenconnected togetherfa'sfshown in Figure 1 of the. drawings., form thewerking 'valve casr ing vand the boresthereof ane/,in axial aline- `mentso as to provide aconti'nuous unbroken p passagel Jfor ,the oily inthe'operationioffthe Working fvalwffe.l

ent instance these packing elements are in the form of metal and leatherrings 8 and 9 respectively. The metal rings 8 are tapered downwardly andthe leatherrings9 are lcup rel in the operation of the working valve,`

so as to form a fluid tight joint between the barrel and the valve, theleather packing ring having a tendency to expand against theinner wallof the barrel in the operation of the valve. l These metal and leatherwashers alternating one with the other are used at the present timearound the working valve, b-ut in the operation of the valve thefloatingV sand in the oil works up into contact with these packingelements, and as a consequence the leather washers are cut up and theirutility destroyed, thus destroying the Huid tight joint between thevalve and the barrel and permitting the oil to leak by the valve, As avconsequence the eliiciency of the working valve is materially lessened.

The bottom section 3 of my improvedworking valve isformed of twov parts10 and 11, as clearly shown in Figure 4 of the drawings. The upper part10 has its upper end connected with the lower end of themain or centralsection 1, as in Figure 3, while the, lower end of such part 10 isformed interiorly with an enlarged bore 12, and threaded into this bore12 is' a nipple 13 formed on the upper end ofthe bottomvpart l11.Contiguous to the nipple 13 the outer surface 4of the upper portion ofthe part 11 is circumferentially reduced as at 14. a

:in accordance with my invention the lower end of the top section 2contiguous to the circumferential reduced portion 1`co operates withsuch reduced portion to form a groove, while the lower end of the part10 of the lower section cooperates with the circumferential reducedportion 14; on the lower part 11 to constitute a packing ring groove,`as clearly illustrated in'Figures `2 and `4 of the drawings. In each of`these grooves I fit an expansible metal packing ring 15. In thepresentv instance eachring- 1.5 is of the split type and the vendslthereof atthe split portion are cut out laterally and overlapfeachother, y'so as tokpr'event leakage through the ring. ,Y f V In thepresent instance the upper lend of the top section 2 is formed toprovide Aa valve seat, and engaging this seat is'a ball check 16, whilelsurrounding the ball check and threaded onto the upper end ofthe sec,-tion?l is rafvalve cage 17 housing the check 16.` The upperend of thecage 17 is threaded to receive the tubular valve rod. that is designedto communicate withfthe working valve in the operation of the vlatter toconvey the oil to the surface.

In accordance with my invention the parts of the section 3 are knurledas at 18-18 respectively, whilethe main section 1 adjacent to its upperend is knurled as at 19, and the top section 2 knurled as at 20. rlheseknurled portions are circumferentially reduced and provide grips toreceive wrenches or similar tools in order to facilitate the taking downof the sections of the Working valve when it is necessary lto renew therings 15.

In practice,` the working valve tits within the working barrel, asillustrated in Figure 5, and the rings 15 arranged above and be; low thepacking elements 8 and 9 engage the inner surface of the working barrel.These rings beingvmetaland eXpansible tightly engage the barrel so thatin the operation of the working valve sand and other foreign substancesare prevented from passing the rings, and thereby contacting with theleatherpacking'- rings 9. Thus the life of the packing rings isprolonged and the eiiiciency of the working valve enhanced so that inthe continued operation of the working valve the vlatter may' functionto its full capacity and with a minimum of wear on the parts.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying draw-y ings, it will be seen that I have provided a workingvalve' and .packing arrangement therefor which may be easily and quicklytaken down when it necessary to4 renew the rings 15 and the rings 8 and9, and wherein theparts are so arranged and corelatedas to reduce thepossibility ofderangement to a minimum. y f 4 While I have hereinshownand described onepreferred form of my invention by way of illustration,'I wish it to be understood that I' do not limit orconine myself to theprecise details of construction herein shown and described, asmodifications andvariations maybe made within the scope of the claim andwithout departing from lthe spirit of my invention.

'I claim: l t l In a working valve for oilwellsthe combi nation with theworking barrel, of a working valvecomprising a central sectionengageablewith the adjacent wallof the barrel, packingelements,surroundingfsaid central sectionand engageable `with theadjacent wall ofthe barrel to form a fluidtight joint. top and bottomend sectionsrconnected to said central section, the'lower endysectionbeingy formed'of two parts detachably connected together, one of saidparts being circumferentially-freduced at itsjuncture with the otherpart to ,provide -an annular groove, a metal packing ring within saidygroove and `covering the meeting ends of the sections,

said central section and cooperating with said oiroumferentially reducedportion to form a groove and an expansiole metal' pack- 10 ing ringcarried in said last named groove.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.

` HARRY J. STEINBERGER.

